The Great Gadfly

Why Does Anything Involving Barnstable County Government Have to be Messy?

I just do not believe it...nor should anyone else.  Barnstable's assistant town manager is no longer on duty; he is taking his accumulated vacation time and then.....? Well, if you believe that he has not been assured that he will be the next executive director of the Cape Cod commission you probably also think that Iraq is the next hot spot for tourism development. Typical of how it usually functions, Barnstable County has managed to make a hash out of this situation.

 It really is very simple:

1.  Margo Fenn is gone.
2. The Cape Cod commission needs a new executive director.
   
3. The first round of applicants for the job ended with no one selected by the five-member selection committee, one whom is that lion of  big government Commissioner Bill Doherty.
4. The job was posted for a second time with different qualifications and salary, applications due by August 13th.

Now we discover that sometime on either Wednesday the 8th or Thursday the 9th Paul Niedzwiecki told his boss, Barnstable Town Manager John Klimm, that he was applying for another job and would be leaving Barnstable's employ.  As of now Niedzwiecki is using up his accumulated vacation time and will not be returning to his town job. Both county and town scources say he was not fired.

Now, ask me...do I think a man supporting two children and a mortgage left a job paying just over $100,000 per year plus health insurance and full benefits  without knowing where he would be getting his next paycheck? 

It is well known that many people thought  Niedzwiecki would be an ideal person to head the Cape Cod commission. He is a lawyer and his political experience extends to a stint as a legislative aid in the statehouse while his demonstrated mangement abilities and knowledge of municipal government made him seem better suited than a mere planner to head a regional agency whose actions have far reaching effects on the Cape's fifteen towns. I can honestly say that I have heard only praise for Niedzwiecki the man and Niedzwiecki the administrator.

But, please do not expect me to believe that he blew up his tenure in the Town of Barnstable on a whim or merely to "apply for another job" without absolute certainty that he had another job in the bag. He may be courageous but he is not foolhardy. In my opinion the second posting of the CCC job is a smokescreen for a county government who cannot say simply that they did not find the right person in round one and finally realized that the right person was already on the Cape and was well known to and well liked by everyone...Paul Niedzwiecki.

Furthermore, at a time when the CCC needs to deflect a growing rumble of citizen and municipal discontent it may be that the  powers in Countyville finally saw the need for someone of Niedzwiecki's demonstrated abilities to lead the CCC out of the jaws of defeat. Will the plan work? I for one will not let up in my drive to see towns withdraw from the CCC. The real problem with the CCC is not only the commission itself,  it is also the county government which refuses to exercise its  oversight authority. It is interesting to note that  sources tell me Niedzwiecki did not formally apply for the  CCC job until Friday, August 10th, but he told John Klimm that he would be leaving town government a day or two earlier.

Of course, one might ask what else but chaos should we expect from a selection committee which includes Commissioner Bill Doherty as a member. Some of the CCC's worst offenses against member towns and private property rights have occurred under Doherty's tenure as a county commissioner, even chairman of the commissioners. OOPS! He might throw cake at me.  And Commissioner Mary LeClair, once county treasurer, claims to be a conservative Republican but told me three months ago, "I just love the commission; I think they are doing a great job!" The very people from whom she begs campaign funds are adamantly opposed to the CCC. Mary, Mary....quite contrary.

Someone very close to this whole situation (not from Barnstable Town hall) told me that he had a conversation with Niedzwiecki not long ago in which Niedzwiecki said that when the Cape Cod commission comes to a town hall they should be welcomed as friends  and allies...as people who know that their mission is to help towns cope with a variety of issues. If Paul Niedzwiecki can make the marxist CCC staff agree with him and act accordingly, whatever has happened over the past few days will be forgotten. Otherwise, he has just made an interesting career move. He has risked a lot. And, if it is true that Niedzwiecki has already been chosen to head the CCC and no one from the county made a courtesy call to John Klimm...the county has just committed a huge political, ethical and tactical mistake. When John Klimm was considering hirng Joellen Daley, the assistant town administrator in Yarmouth, to be his assistant town manager, he first called Robert Lawton, Daley's boss, and asked if hiring her away from Yarmouth would be a problem. Daley did go to work for Klimm and then moved on to a county position in North Carolina. Niedzwiecki, whom Klimm had known for some time, succeeded her.

Interesting side note: I told Paul Niedzwiecki over two months ago that his name was being widely circulated as an ideal CCC candidadte and asked if he would take the job if offered; he said, "No." He answered with no hesitation or hint of doubt. He also then spoke at length of what the selection committee should be seeking in a Fenn successor. Funny thing...he described himself. 

Smaller Cape towns, such as Truro,  Welfleet and Eastham might very well see Niedzwiecki's hiring as dangerous for them because now the former second in command of the Cape's largest town will have control of the CCC. They might fear that he neither knows nor cares about their concerns. Of course, for years many have been wondering why Truro or Wellfleet or Brewster should have anything to say about what happens in Bourne  or Yarmouth or Sandwich.

If paul Niedzwiecki is named as the next head of the Cape Cod Commission I will be thrilled. And, I will not be anything but supportive of him in that role.  Perhaps he can force the CCC to stop accepting DRI referrals of municipal projects which many people believe these should be exempt from CCC review. But, while I think he can manage an agency in transition I still believe that agency should be abolished...and perhaps replaced by a new regional planning agency with clear responsiblities and powers. What of Niedzwiecki then? He will do just fine, probably as the boss of a whole town.

Oh, by the way...it looks as if John Lipman will not succeed Margo. Good move, John, it's going to get loud in Barnstable Village.